This article provides a summation of the historical roots of wife beating. The influences of the Middle Ages and Christianity on wife beating are discussed.
Men have beaten women for centuries and have avoided the severe and just consequences for their actions. Domestic violence has been an acceptable, clandestine method of behavior. In 1985, Dickstein and a team of paleopathologists from the Medical College of Virginia identified massive skull fractures among mummies 2000-3000 years old. They found that:
- 30-50% of the skull fractures were women
- 9-20% of the skull fractures were men
In primitive societies, women had great power in clans and held honorable and esteemed positions. Their power resulted from their ability to create life. However, through the passing of civilizations, women soon realized that the threat of rape and economic survival were realistic factors forcing them in to seek monogamous relationships (Engels, as cited in Sonkin, 1987). Engels acknowledged how “women paid dearly for the personal protection they sought”.
Documentation of Wife Beating
Documentation of family violence dated back to the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages. The writings revealed wife beating was a common method used to administer punishment to women. Punishment resulted from women’s voicing of opinions, showing anger, disobeying their husband, or choosing to escape the drudgery of their life’s existence.
Change of the Family Hierarchal Structure
With monogomony, a restructuring of the family hierarchy was challenged. The father became head of the household. Strict moral demands were placed on women; however, the male had the same privileges of polygamy and infidelity. An elevated almost saint-like power was bestowed upon the male in the home. A woman’s activities were heavily guarded in order to authenticate her husband’s honor or integrity.
Influences of Christian Beliefs on Wife Beating
Christianity encouraged the male domination in the family system. The husband, for the cleansing and the uplifting of the woman’s soul administered wife beatings on a regular basis. Women were denigrated, considered unworthy, deceptive, lacking intelligence, and inferior. Women’s submission and obedience to men was formed from the Christian belief that Eve from the Garden of Eden, deserved to be punished for the seduction of Adam. Women’s bodies were primarily required for the bearing of children and man’s needs and desires. Men held the opinions that they alone, had intelligence and integrity, deserving respect. Men were allowed to slap, shove, bite, pinch, throw objects, and pull women’s hair.
Due to the emergence of the feminist movement, women gave publicity to wife beating. They developed an awareness of the victimization of women and the non-constitutionalism of the American Justice System. In 1970, legislation voted that assault and battery within the family, was considered a crime. Justification was now provided for women to leave abusive relationships. Until this moment in history, the phenomenon of wife beating was invisible.
